Welcome to the second Pastoral Ponderings of Pastor Lance Irey. I am so excited to be sharing the Hope, Love and Forgiveness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
What shall we discuss today? The resurgence of Covid-19? Defunding the police? BLM vs ALM? Or….
Well with the reopening of America in the midst of protests (and looting / rioting) the numbers are starting to come in. Will there be a resurgence of the virus? What will that bring? More questions than answers. Watching the news now and there is little continuity between cities & counties & states of requirements and ideologies. Frustrating but God’s got this.
Several amazing things are happening during this time that I am noticing. Families are eating meals together and talking. Many folks I talk to are excited about the conversations they are having with their kids. It has been fantabulous having our 22 year old daughter at home as we have had amazing conversations about 'hot topics'. One thing we have talked about is it is great people are passionate about issues but usually it seems as emotions rise, reason along with common sense go out the window. It is a difficult skill but I recommend practicing checking our emotions and hone our common sense when discussing current events like ‘defund the police’.
What does ‘defund the police’ even mean? Well it is my understanding that the original intent had to do with the injustice between the cost and availability between medical personal obtaining needed Personal Protection Equipment (about $50 gloves, masks, gowns, etc…) and police officers Personal Protection Equipment (hundreds upwards of a $1000. Currently there are people who have hijacked it and truly think ‘defund the police’ will help. No doubt something has to be done however the criminals will still be well funded and armed. More, different, better training will be critical, but there is a deeper spiritual issue present for all of us.
Early on in the protests people started getting mad when someone would respond All Lives Matter to the Black Lives Matter signs and chants. I failed to understand why we shouldn’t push for ALM over just BLM. My daughter got me thinking then several people made statements like “All Lives Don’t Matter Until Black Lives Matter.” During this time saying All Lives Matter is like running through a cancer fundraiser & saying "THERE'S OTHER DISEASES TOO". - Annoying but God’s got this.
Let’s listen to each other, let’s hear one another. We are all equal in God’s eyes.
Check us out either at our physical site (5080 Kingsley, Montclair, Ca,) some Sunday @ 10am or visit us at www.tlcmontclair.org any time and stay connected.
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